Parliament will begin public hearings on the anti-LGBTQ+ bill today

The Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament will today, October 11, 2021 start its public hearings to consider memos that were submitted to the committee on the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill.

The groups set to appear before the committee today include the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, Group of Concerned Ghanaian Citizens, Human Rights Coalition, Amnesty International, the Ghana Aids Commission, among others.

The committee has so far received more than 140 memos from individuals, institutions and civil society organisations, in support of the bill or otherwise.

The committee is expected to take 15 weeks to complete the exercise.

“It is now ranging between 140 and 145. We are in to listen to everybody, we want to do a good law for Ghana, and so we must be patient and go through the rudiment of the game. We are making a law and we need to look at the law from a long-term perspective, not to rush into making the law and have the particular law amended later,” Ben Ahiafor, Ranking member of the committee said.

The bill, known as the Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021 has generated debates all over the country and beyond. Initiated by eight members of Parliament, it seeks to criminalize LGBTQI+ activities and advocacy.

Below is the schedule of today’s hearing;